Consumer perception of extruded snacks containing brown rice and dried mushroom

Effects of mushroom type, seasoning and health benefit information (HBI) on consumers’ saltiness expectation, sensory liking, elicited emotions and purchase intent (PI) of extruded snacks were investigated. Five snacks were evaluated: straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) extrudates without (SME) or with seasoning (SMES), phoenix mushroom (Pleurotus pulmonarius) extrudates without (PME) or with seasoning (PMES), and the control without mushroom and seasoning. Hedonic scores and positive emotions were generally higher for seasoned mushroom-containing snacks (SMES and PMES) with 65% and 75.83% of consumers reporting willingness to purchase, respectively, after receiving HBI. Bored, interested and satisfied were identified as significant emotional predictors for PI odds. Flavour, saltiness, overall liking, bored, good and interested were critical attributes, differentiating snacks. This study demonstrated that sensory liking and PI of extruded brown rice-based snacks containing mushroom could be improved through savoury seasoning addition, which also allowed saltiness expectations to be met.     

Controlled Secure Direct Communication Protocol via the Three-Qubit Partially Entangled Set of States

In this paper, we first re-examine the previous protocol of controlled quantum secure direct communication of Zhang et al.’s scheme, which was found insecure under two kinds of attacks, fake entangled particles attack and disentanglement attack. Then, by changing the party of the preparation of cluster states and using unitary operations, we present an improved protocol which can avoid these two kinds of attacks. Moreover, the protocol is proposed using the three-qubit partially entangled set of states. It is more efficient by only using three particles rather than four or even more to transmit one bit secret information. Given our using state is much easier to prepare for multiqubit states and our protocol needs less measurement resource, it makes this protocol more convenient from an applied point of view.     

On the linear correlation between microhardness and mechanical properties in polar polymers and blends

The tensile elastic modulus (E), yield stress (σ_Y) and microhardness (MH) of neat and binary and ternary blends of glassy semicrystalline ethylene–vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH), a glassy amorphous polyamide and a semicrystalline nylon‐containing ionomer covering a broad range of properties were examined. The tests were carried out on dry and water‐equilibrated samples to produce stiffer and softer materials, respectively. From the results, more accurate linear correlations were found to describe adequately the microhardness, modulus and yield stress of these strongly self‐associated polymers through hydrogen bonding. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Clinical chemistry of common apolipoprotein E isoforms

Apolipoprotein E plays a central role in clearance of lipoprotein remnants by serving as a ligand for low-density lipoprotein and apolipoprotein E receptors. Three common alleles (apolipoprotein E(2), E(3) and E(4)) give rise to six phenotypes. Apolipoprotein E(3) is the ancestral form. Common apolipoprotein E isoforms derive from nucleotide substitutions in codons 112 and 158. Resulting cysteine-arginine substitutions cause differences in: affinities for low-density lipoprotein and apolipoprotein E receptors, low-density lipoprotein receptor activities, distribution of apolipoprotein E among lipoproteins, low-density lipoprotein formation rate, and cholesterol absorption. Accompanying changes in triglycerides, cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein may promote atherosclerosis development. Over 90% of patients with familial dysbetalipoproteinaemia have apolipoprotein E(2)/E(2). Apolipoprotein E(4) may promote atherosclerosis by its low-density lipoprotein raising effect. Establishment of apolipoprotein E isoforms may be important for patients with diabetes mellitus and several non-atherosclerotic diseases. Apolipoprotein E phenotyping exploits differences in isoelectric points. Isoelectric focusing uses gels that contain pH 4-7 ampholytes and urea. Serum is directly applied, or prepurified by delipidation, lipoprotein precipitation or dialysation. Isoelectric focusing is followed by immunofixation/protein staining. Another approach is electro- or diffusion blotting, followed by protein staining or immunological detection with anti-apolipoprotein E antibodies and an enzyme-conjugated second antibody. Apolipoprotein E genotyping demonstrates underlying point mutations. Analyses of polymerase chain reaction products are done by allele-specific oligonucleotide probes, restriction fragment length polymorphism, single-stranded conformational polymorphism, the primer-guided nucleotide incorporation assay, or denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis. Detection with primers that either or not initiate amplification is performed with the amplification refractory mutation system. Disparities between phenotyping and genotyping may derive from isoelectric focusing methods that do not adequately separate apolipoprotein E posttranslational variants, storage artifacts or faint isoelectric focusing bands.     

Early patterning of prelimbic cortical axons to the striatal patch compartment in the neonatal mouse

The striatum receives excitatory input from virtually the entire cerebral cortex. In the adult, this input is segregated into two functionally distinct compartments of the striatum, the patch (striosome) and matrix regions. This study determined whether the patterning of corticostriatal afferents from the prelimbic cortex to the striatal patch compartment develops during the early period of collateral formation or instead at the time of peak synaptogenesis. Initial formation of corticostriatal axon collaterals was observed by embryonic day (E) 19. Quantification of corticostriatal collaterals revealed a significant increase in the number and complexity of collateral branches at postnatal day 6 as compared to E19. Concomitant with the increase in collateral branching, a heterogeneous pattern of collateralization consisting of parallel rows of corticostriatal collaterals was observed in the medial striatum. In addition to the rows, clusters of corticostriatal axons occurred more laterally. These clusters colocalized with patches of dense tyrosine hydroxylase-positive fibers, a marker for the striatal patch compartment in the neonatal mouse. Together, these data indicate that corticostriatal patterning occurs during the period of early axon collateralization resulting in a segregation of corticostriatal axon collaterals from the prelimbic cortex to the striatal patch compartment.